Delaware meets 12% of the state’s needs for mental health care, according to a recent study from the Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy.
The Delaware Women Status Report, published in September 2024, finds Delaware needs 25 additional mental health care practitioners to remove its Health Professional Shortage Area designation. The designation indicates a substantial lack of mental health care professionals.
The same report also finds more than 289 thousand Delawareans live in mental health care health professional shortage areas. That’s more than a quarter of Delaware’s population.
Delaware’s Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health director Joanna Champney noted there’s a gap of about 14% between the number of people with mental illnesses and those who are able to connect to care. Program capacity issues are part of that problem.
“When providers have staffing shortages, that can, at times, cause a bottleneck where they have to halt referrals, or they may have to slow down the rate at which we're able to refer and they're able to admit new patients,” Champney said.
Champney said other times, wait lists or difficulty locating a provider act as obstacles to people seeking mental health care.
Surrounding states face similar issues. Maryland meet 23% of mental health care needs, New Jersey meets 18% and Pennsylvania meets 38%.
“Some providers have decided not to accept insurance anymore, and so depending on the patient's financial situation, that may exacerbate hardships with locating a provider. I would also say that sometimes lack of workforce can impact what a consumer experiences.”
Even state departments are not immune to staffing difficulties, Champney added.
“Those shortages sometimes hamper the state's ability to send out mobile crisis responders, and we then have to divert those calls to law enforcement. I think we're all probably in agreement that many mental health emergencies really don't need police response. They need clinical response.”
Champney said sometimes shifts have to be shut down, which means calls automatically have to be diverted.
“We're always going to make sure that that person gets emergency support, but the most appropriate response may not always be available due to workforce shortages.”
The state has programs and is working on more to bolster the workforce, including mobile crisis responders.
As Delaware does not have a medical school in-state, Champney said Delaware is trying to attract more psychiatrists and nurses.
The state funds tuition up front for CNAs who want to work for DHSS facilities and tuition reimbursement at the Delaware Psychiatric Center for nurses interested in mental health.
Sussex County was recently designated a rural zone. Champney said the designation qualifies people working in those areas for programs and loan repayment options that may have been previously inaccessible.
“So, that's exciting because downstate, we face even more significant staffing shortages,” Champney said. “There's just not as many health care workers. They're not concentrated like they are in New Castle County. So we're really eager to see what impact that will have on strengthening the behavioral health workforce downstate.”
DSAMH is also working to expand local resources available when someone calls 988, the suicide and crisis lifeline.
